Chapter 48: Roommate 08
Chen Nanyuan, at her young age, instantly understood her brother’s implication. “Ooh, ooh, ooh~”
Chen Beichuan shot her a glance, for once not making a sarcastic remark.
The first autumn rain had washed away the summer heat. Chen Beichuan had a black windbreaker over his short-sleeved shirt, windproof and waterproof, well-prepared. Unlike his silly sister in a skirt, who was shivering in the cold wind.
He hadn’t come specifically to give an umbrella. The only umbrella he had was given away, and he had no intention of asking Chen Nanyuan for hers. He put on the hood of his windbreaker, his bangs covering his sharp eyes, and was about to leave.
Chen Nanyuan casually asked him, “Are you going back to the dorm like this?”
“Mm,” Chen Beichuan said nonchalantly. “It’s close anyway. I’m not a little girl like you. What’s a little rain?”
Chen Nanyuan rolled her eyes in her heart. A terminal case of male chauvinism, hopeless!!
But the little handsome roommate was indeed very charming. Look at how eager her brother was.
And Ji Ning, who had taken the umbrella, couldn’t help but look a little embarrassed when he heard this. Not only did he not want to get wet, but he had also used the rain as an excuse to trouble Gu Xiu to bring him an umbrella…
Before he could say much, the long-legged Chen Beichuan had already walked into the rain.
The sound of the rain was drizzling, condensing into a mist in the air, blurring the tall and thin back of the young man in black.
On the way, he passed by the cafeteria. Chen Beichuan shook the water off his body at the entrance, ruffled his messy hair, and checked his phone.
Gu Xiu had actually sent him another message, a dense cluster, like flies crowding his screen. Just the visual effect was enough to annoy him. Truly impressive.
This time, the content of the message had nothing to do with giving an umbrella or Ji Ning.
AngryWiddleBird: 【Where are you eating for lunch? I want to eat the chestnut braised pork ribs from the east gate. Can you bring me some on your way～～】
AngryWiddleBird: 【I really want to eat chestnut braised pork ribs… I even dreamed of chestnut braised pork ribs… my mouth is automatically watering… it directly choked me awake, 555…】
AngryWiddleBird: 【Can you, senior? ^ – ^】
AngryWiddleBird: 【Hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry, senior, goose, goose, goose】
AngryWiddleBird: 【Can you, can you, can you, can you, can you】
In this weather, besides the love-struck couples, who would go out of their way to the east gate in the rain?
Actually, both of them thought so.
Of course, Chen Beichuan thought his roommate’s request was unreasonable. They had a relationship of constant bickering and fighting. Even if it were to bring food from the cafeteria in front of him, it would not be on his way or convenient.
This was the effect Gu Xiu wanted, to anger him and add fuel to the fire. It was both to prepare for the future face-slapping and to force his roommate to rent a place outside early and build a love nest with the protagonist shou.
Chen Beichuan, who was looking down at his phone, was silent for a long time, until a drop of rain slid down his windbreaker and dripped onto his phone screen.
He put away his phone, put on his hood, and once again entered the rain.
Gu Xiu, who was sleeping in, was woken up by the sound of a sliding door.
The sliding glass door to the balcony was a bit stuck, and Chen Beichuan’s movements were quite rough. He pushed the door open with a clatter, bringing in the sound of pouring rain and a cool breeze, and came in with a clatter.
Gu Xiu was half-asleep. He poked his head out from the upper bunk, his black eyes, which had turned into double eyelids from sleep, groggily observed the person below. “Huh? Chen Beichuan… what are you doing?”
Chen Beichuan was covered in steam. The black hood of his windbreaker was over his head, and the glossy material was covered in water droplets, which dripped down. A bit of his wet fingers was exposed from the black cuffs, very white, clearly long and slender, making the red clay pot look like a mini toy.
He didn’t say a word, his whole body exuding a sinister criminal aura. Gu Xiu looked at the wet footprints he had made on the floor, the small puddle that had accumulated by his feet, and shivered, waking up.
Chen Beichuan finally raised his head.
The brim of his hat was propped above his three-dimensional brow bone, casting a deep shadow in his deep-set eye sockets, dyeing his light eyes a deep gray close to black. The bridge of his nose, which was cut off by the curved shadow, was particularly straight.
His roommate’s strange and terrifying appearance made Gu Xiu instantly fall silent. His gaze moved away and finally landed on the wet potted plant, letting out a “Huh?”
“Your ugly thing has been in the rain for two hours,” Chen Beichuan’s words were sharp. “If you don’t bring it in, it will become as dead as you are when you sleep.”
Gu Xiu: “…”
Very good. His annoying roommate was back.
Gu Xiu put on his clothes and got out of bed.
Chen Beichuan found a corner to place Gu Xiu’s ugly thing, and then he took off the jacket that had become a raincoat, folded it in half, and threw it into the laundry basket.
He was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt underneath. The windbreaker was soaked, and the inner short-sleeved shirt was also damp, clinging to his body, faintly outlining his firm figure.
Gu Xiu’s gaze followed him all the way to the desk that was always clean and tidy, a tightly tied white plastic bag, wrapping a steaming lunch box.
The faint smell of stewed meat mixed with spices and nuts came to his nose, becoming clearer with each step.
His mouth automatically began to water. His throat swallowed twice, and Gu Xiu belatedly reacted, letting out a high-pitched “Huh!?” in disbelief.
Chen Beichuan was adjusting his messy hair from the hat. A few strands of his bangs were also wet from the rain. He pushed them back and they became a side part. His eyes were cold and his expression was blank, a high and cold look that kept people away.
Gu Xiu, who even wore his clothes, of course had no sense of boundaries. He rushed to his desk in one step and pointed to the takeout on the desk. “You really bought it for me?”
“I bought it for you on the way,” Chen Beichuan corrected faintly. “I’ve never had it before. I’m tired of the cafeteria food, so I wanted to try how delicious this thing is, to have a queue even on a rainy day.”
Gu Xiu was so excited and impatient that he tore open the bag.
“Actually, I’ve never had it either. It looks delicious!” Gu Xiu’s two eyes were glued to the lunch box. He swallowed his saliva and said, “I saw it on a niche review of the university town’s must-eat food list…”
Seeing that Gu Xiu hadn’t opened the bag after a long time and was about to take the whole bag and leave, Chen Beichuan quickly called out, “Hey… one of them is mine.”
“Oh,” Gu Xiu reluctantly put the bag back, took some effort to untie the tight knot, and took out a lunch box from inside.
Chen Beichuan reminded, “Chopsticks.”
The careless Gu Xiu turned back to get the chopsticks.
Chen Beichuan: “There’s also chili oil. If you want to eat it, get it yourself.”
Gu Xiu turned back again, like a spinning top that was busy for nothing. He had been tossing and turning for a long time but still hadn’t eaten.
Chen Beichuan couldn’t help but laugh, but he immediately realized his autonomous lips and quickly pressed them back down, resuming his cold expression.
Chen Beichuan ate quickly and did not do two things at once. After he finished eating, he put down his chopsticks and turned to shout, “Hey, Gu Xiu.”
Gu Xiu quickly chewed and swallowed the chestnut in his mouth and replied vaguely, “What’s wrong?”
The room was isolated from the wet rain outside. The sound of the rain was faint, the most comfortable accompaniment to a meal. Gu Xiu was eating with relish but was ruthlessly interrupted by his roommate. The latter brought up the old matter with a cold face, “About the dormitory’s hygiene, and the schedule… I’ve drafted a pact. If you want to continue living here, you must abide by it.”
“Why should I?” Not to mention the plot’s needs, even Gu Xiu’s own personality would not be convinced. “Half of the dormitory is also mine. Why should you have the final say?”
Chen Beichuan handed over the printed dormitory pact and said, “I will also abide by it.”
“No noise after ten at night, lights out at eleven?” Gu Xiu frowned. “Isn’t this targeting me? Why don’t you say that we have to be quiet before nine in the morning??”
“I’ve never seen you woken up by noise when I get up in the morning,” Chen Beichuan said with a straight face. “If you need to be targeted, I can add your name.”
Gu Xiu was choked by this person’s unreasonable way of speaking and only spoke after a few seconds, “…I’m not woken up because I’m a heavy sleeper.”
“Whether you’re a heavy sleeper or not, you must abide by it,” as a top student from a top university, Chen Beichuan was well-versed in the broken window effect. Seeing that the irritable Gu Xiu had already taken the bait, he immediately softened his tone and offered room for negotiation. “Or, we can have a competition. Whoever wins gets to decide.”
“Fine, Chen Beichuan, you just wait!”
Gu Xiu’s temper flared. He slurped down his meal in a few mouthfuls, and after he was full, he rolled up his sleeves, fully prepared for a big fight.
Chen Beichuan brought over a simple folding table and placed it in the Chu River and Han border between the two desks.
“Fighting is not good. How about we arm wrestle?”
Gu Xiu nodded readily, knelt down, and quickly got into position. “Come on.”
Chen Beichuan was unhurried and squatted opposite him. “Then what’s the punishment?”
Gu Xiu was stunned for a moment. “…There’s a punishment?”
Chen Beichuan calmly suggested, “Mm… how about taking off one piece of clothing for each loss? The first one to be naked loses.”
Gu Xiu was silent.
Fighting was a full-body sport. Even if he was unwilling to admit it, he was no match for Chen Beichuan, who had the protagonist gong’s halo. Last time, he had won by a surprise move. The protagonist gong’s learning ability was amazing, and he estimated that his chances of winning again were extremely slim.
Chen Beichuan had first vetoed fighting, so of course that was good. And arm wrestling was not just a contest of strength, technique was also crucial. He was confident of winning.
But taking off one piece of clothing for each loss… how many rounds would they have to play? From a competition of skill to a competition of endurance, his winning rate was suddenly reduced by more than half.
So Gu Xiu hesitated.
Chen Beichuan kindly suggested, “You can go and put on a few more clothes now.”
Gu Xiu was successfully provoked by him and quickly picked up the shirt on the back of the chair and put it on, looking aggressive. “Come on, who’s afraid of whom!”
Although he said that, his actions did not stop for a moment. He also put on his socks.
Chen Beichuan, on the other hand, was calm and composed. He didn’t move at all, just wearing a short-sleeved shirt and a pair of long pants, waiting for him to get ready.
“Come on.”
Chen Beichuan’s halo and that confidence made Gu Xiu vaguely worried. Unexpectedly, as soon as the competition started, the protagonist gong, who had a bunch of titles, took a hard fall.
Gu Xiu pressed his hand firmly on the table and proudly showed off to 007 in his mind: 【The top student protagonist gong is nothing special. Next time, I’ll try a sports student protagonist gong. I feel like I might have a fighting chance against a sports student…】
007 felt like it had the emotions of a human old mother and said nervously, 【Host, the protagonist gong is very smart. You must not be careless…】
Gu Xiu was floating, arrogant and proud.
No matter how smart this protagonist gong was, he still lost. Hehe, he was pretending to be calm on his face!
Gu Xiu saw through everything and was still merciless. He looked at the person opposite him arrogantly, raised a finger, and ordered in his tone, “You lost. Take it off.”
Chen Beichuan was willing to admit defeat. Although he was annoying everywhere, at least this point was still pleasing to the eye.
He crossed his hands and pulled at the hem of his slightly damp short-sleeved shirt, eagerly stripping off this damp and cold clothing. He raised his arms, and his head drilled through. The only covering on his upper body was thus removed.
Gu Xiu, who had won a great victory, was looking up and drinking coke.
“…Ahem!”
He almost spilled the coke in the bottle on his face. The surging carbon dioxide rushed into his nasal cavity, making him cough.
According to the plot, the protagonist gong at this time had already had his heart stirred, but he had been straight for more than twenty years. It would still take some time for him to recognize his own sexual orientation. Therefore, at this time, he was not shy about taking off his shirt in front of his roommate and was very generous.
Although Gu Xiu liked to sleep shirtless and was carefree, he had never seen another man’s body so closely and clearly, and it was a particularly top-tier one at that, with well-proportioned bones and six-pack abs.
As he looked, he gradually got used to it, and the strange feeling in his heart turned into jealousy and anger.
Why is the protagonist gong’s body so good when all he does is study every day? He had worked so hard in the main god space, but he had still lost because of the one-character difference between “protagonist” and “supporting character.”
So annoying!
“Continue,” Gu Xiu’s fighting spirit rose, and he shouted loudly, “Again!”
In Chen Beichuan’s eyes, he just felt that he seemed to be shy and was deliberately bluffing.
To avoid eye contact and divert attention.
Chen Beichuan saw through it but didn’t say it. He continued to arm wrestle with him.
In the second round, Chen Beichuan still lost.
Gu Xiu’s mood was very complicated. Half of it was the pride and intoxication of defeating the son of heaven, and the other half was an indescribable awkwardness—from the calm and composed Chen Beichuan who was unbuckling his belt in front of him.
Chen Beichuan was only wearing a single pair of pants, and two bare legs were pulled out from inside.
At first, Gu Xiu didn’t even notice his socks. When his legs were empty, the presence of the socks became so strong that it was impossible to ignore, with a strangeness that made it impossible to look directly at them. And they were white!
Gu Xiu lowered his eyes, pretending to be calm, but his heart was in a turmoil. Should I go easy on him?
He was not at all, not one bit, not a hundred bits curious about what was under the remaining boxer shorts.
In the next round, Gu Xiu kept his head down the whole time, absent-minded, and probably only used fifty to sixty percent of his strength. Incredibly, Chen Beichuan was as soft as if he had been bewitched and inexplicably fell on the table.
Gu Xiu: “…” No way.
007 resonated with him: 【No way!】
Gu Xiu was a little annoyed: 【Stop watching the show. You’re about to be forced to shut down.】
The small silver ball of light popped out and hovered between the two of them, seizing every second to watch the show.
Gu Xiu’s face was a little ugly. Who would have thought that the protagonist gong from Jinjiang would keep his word and even abandon his male virtue, really planning to take off his underwear in front of him!!
Chen Beichuan’s hands were bony and long, usually used for flipping through books or typing code. Whether he was holding a pen or eating with chopsticks, they were equally pleasing to the eye.
Now, they were hooked on the gray lettered edge of his underwear.
Gu Xiu wanted to say something but couldn’t. He couldn’t stop him, nor could he turn his head. He was both flustered and worried about breaking his persona. The result was that he watched as Chen Beichuan’s groin was gradually exposed…
His face could no longer be held back, and a blush quickly spread, from his cheeks to his earlobes without obstruction.
Chen Beichuan suddenly paused and lowered his eyes.
His smoke-gray eyes turned a warm color in the light, and a faint smile also appeared on his lips.
“Oh, right…”
Chen Beichuan took a big breath.
“There are also socks.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he let go of the half-pulled elastic band, squatted down, and shifted his target to his feet.
Gu Xiu’s heart almost stopped. All the blood rushed to his face, his mind was buzzing, a complete blank.
Chen Beichuan always paid attention to him with his peripheral vision, admiring the changing color of his face from the beginning, all the subtle expressions, the constricted black pupils, the five fingers that were clenched due to nervousness, the tightly held pant legs…
Strangely enough, not only did Chen Beichuan not feel disgusted, but his heart was even filled with a strange feeling, full and swollen… like when that place was engorged in the morning.
